Amelio Receives the First Place Joseph Lister Award for New Investigators
Antonio Amelio, PhD, received the first place 2019 Joseph Lister Award for New Investigators at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Annual Meeting for his research “Autochthonous immunocompetent models of HPV16-mediated oral tumorigenesis.” As the first-place winner, Amelio will receive $5,000 and a $3,000 travel stipend.
Amelio is one of ten international finalists who are invited to present their research at the IADR Annual Meeting. Presentations are judged based on originality, potential for public health impact, and scientific merit. The awards competition was created to recognize and reward young investigators with original research in oral disease prevention or oral health promotion.
“We are hopeful that our studies aimed at developing and characterizing these new models will provide valuable platforms for better understanding the biology of cancers driven by HPV and enabling new therapeutic options for patients with these cancers,” said Amelio.
“Tony is a remarkable early stage investigator whose cutting-edge research in oral and salivary gland tumors will have far-reaching impact,” said Eric Everett, PhD, chair of the Division of Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences. “It is his gift to develop effective research teams and strong collaborations that will allow him to work toward the development of models to permit the testing of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for oral and salivary gland cancers. Oral and head and neck cancers are unfortunately very common tumors. During 2016 alone there were more than 45,000 new oral cavity and pharynx cancers, and many were associated with the human papillomavirus or HPV.”
The IADR Joseph Lister Award for New Investigators is managed by the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) and supported by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., makers of Listerine. The IADR is a nonprofit organization with more than 11,400 individual members worldwide, dedicated to driving dental, oral and craniofacial research to advance health and well-being through discovery and dissemination.